20 Female Movie Directors Everyone Should Know About

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In the past, directing films has been a pretty male-dominated industry. But with time, women have come into their own, and now there are lots of good, story-driven movie that were directed or made by women.

We think it’s time to celebrate some wins, and call out some of the female movie directors who’ve worked hard to get where they are, and have good films to show for it. We’re talking about the women who’ve made a name for themselves directing, and also sharing some of the films they’ve directed. Keep reading; you may just be surprised by what you learn!

1. Greta Gerwig

Greta Gerwig began her career as an actor, appearing in films such as Francis Ha and No Strings Attached. She has since written and directed several notable feature films, including Lady Bird, Little Women, and Barbie. In 2017, Gerwig was nominated for Best Director for her work on Lady Bird, although she ultimately lost the award to La La Land director Damien Chazelle. Gerwig is a frequent collaborator with her husband, filmmaker Noah Baumbach. In July 2023, it was revealed that Gerwig would direct two of the highly anticipated Narnia adaptations for Netflix.

2. Celine Song

Celine Song is a writer and director from South Korea. Song’s directorial debut, Past Lives, was released in 2023 and quickly received critical acclaim. The film was nominated for Best Picture and Original Screenplay at the 96th Academy Awards. In December 2023, it was announced that Song would direct A24’s upcoming project, The Materialists.

3. Sofia Coppola

The daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola began her career as an actor appearing in several of her father’s films. In 1998, Coppola pivoted towards directing, releasing her first feature in 1999: The Virgin Suicides. The film premiered at Sundance in 2000 and has become somewhat of a cult classic over the years. Coppola has directed several notable features throughout her career, including Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, The Bling Ring, and The Beguiled. Most recently, Coppola directed Priscilla, a biopic based on the life of Priscilla Presley, as well as her tumultuous relationship with Elvis.

4. Jane Campion

Jane Campion is a New Zealand filmmaker who rose to prominence during the 1990s. In 1993, she released her highly regarded film, The Piano, which went on to be nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Best Original Screenplay at the 66th Academy Awards. Campion was nominated for Best Director that same year, becoming the second woman ever nominated in that category. In 2021, Campion had a career resurgence with her film The Power of the Dog, the first film she directed in over a decade. Campion went on to win the Oscar for Best Director at the 94th Academy Awards.

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5. Ava Duvernay

Ava Duvernay is a writer, producer, and director known for her films Selma, 13th, A Wrinkle in Time, and When They See Us. Duvernay’s films often depict themes of motherhood, resilience, and racial inequality. According to one journalist, Duvernay’s films “seek to invert the tradition of the dehumanization of Black people and the Black body in media” (Ward, 2017). Her most recent film, Origin, was a biopic focusing on the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson as she battled personal tragedy while writing her seminal novel.

6. Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron was a filmmaker best known for her work in romantic comedies. She wrote the screenplay for When Harry Met Sally (directed by Rob Reiner) and later went on to write and direct the films You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle. Ephron was a frequent collaborator with actors Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks throughout her career. For her work, Ephron was nominated for several awards, including three Academy Awards, one Golden Globe, one Tony Award, and five Writers Guild of America Awards.

7. Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall was an actor, writer, and producer well-known for her performance as Laverne DeFazio in Laverne & Shirley. As a director, Marshall is best known for her films Big, Awakenings, A League of Their Own, and The Preacher’s Wife. Big became the first feature film directed by a woman to gross over $100 million, while A League of Their Own became infamous for its line, “There’s no crying in baseball!” which is still referenced in pop culture today. According to Cinelinx, Marshall’s protagonists are often seen battling some unseen force, whether it be gender inequality, discrimination, or mental disability (Perno, 2023).

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8. Nancy Meyers

Nancy Meyers is a writer and director known for her work in romantic comedy. Meyers began her career as a screenwriter, penning popular films such as Private Benjamin, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, and Father of the Bride. In 1998, Meyers made her directorial debut with the remake of The Parent Trap, starring Lindsay Lohan. Following the success of The Parent Trap, Meyers then wrote and directed What Women Want, which later became the most successful film ever directed by a woman. Her other notable works include Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday, It’s Complicated, and The Intern.

9. Chloe Zhao

Chloe Zhao is a Chinese-born filmmaker known primarily for her work in indie films. In 2020, she reached worldwide acclaim for her film Nomadland, which follows Francis McDormand as a woman in her sixties traveling throughout the American West as a nomad. The film won two Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture; Drama and Best Director, and three Academy Awards: Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Actress (for McDormand). Zhao became the second woman ever to win the Oscar for Best Director. Her most recent film was Marvel’s Eternals, released in 2021.

10. Patty Jenkins

Patty Jenkins is an American writer, producer, and director most notable for her work on the Wonder Woman movies. Her first feature film as a director was Monster, released in 2003. The film, which starred Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci, won Theron her only Oscar to date, for Best Actress. In 2017, she directed D.C.’s Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot. The sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, was written and directed by Jenkins and released in 2020.

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11. Gina Prince-Bythewood

Gina Prince-Bythewood began her career as a television writer, contributing to shows such as A Different World, South Central, and Felicity. Her feature film directorial debut came in 2001 when she directed the movie Love and Basketball. Prince-Bythewood was awarded an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay for her work. She later directed several notable films, including The Secret Life of Bees, Before I Fall, and The Woman King. The Woman King won Prince-Bythewood an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Director in a Motion Picture and was named one of The American Film Institute’s Top 10 Films of 2022.

12. Domee Shi

Domee Shi is a Chinese Canadian filmmaker known for her work in animated films. In 2018, she wrote and directed the animated short, Bao, which became the first Pixar short from a female director. Bao won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 91st Academy Awards. Shi then went on to direct Pixar’s Turning Red, for which she became the first woman to direct a Pixar film in the studio’s 36-year history.

13. Charlotte Wells

Charlotte Wells is a Scottish filmmaker notable for the 2022 film Aftersun. Aftersun, starring Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, follows a father and daughter on holiday in Turkey. The story is told through flashbacks and flashforwards as Sophia recalls memories of her father as an adult. For the film, Wells won a Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Director: First Time Feature.

14. Kathryn Bigelow

Kathryn Bigelow is a director known for films such as The Loveless, Blue Steel, Point Break, The Hurt Locker, and Zero Dark Thirty. Throughout her career, Bigelow has won two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, one Primetime Emmy Award, and one Directors Guild of America Award. For her work on The Hurt Locker, Bigelow became the first woman ever to win the Academy Award for Best Director. In 2010, she was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people.

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15. Jamie Babbit

Jamie Babbit began her career as an assistant but quickly transitioned into a script supervisor and, eventually, started directing short films. Her feature film debut came in 1999 when Babbit directed But I’m a Cheerleader, starring Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall. The film has garnered a dedicated fanbase over the years, becoming a staple in gay media. Babbit has also directed several episodes of television, on shows such as Gilmore Girls, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Russian Doll, Only Murders in the Building, and A League of Their Own.

16. Clea Duvall

Clea Duvall is an actor and director who began her career onscreen before shifting into behind-the-camera roles. Her directorial debut, The Intervention, was released in 2016. Duvall also wrote, starred in, and produced the film. She later directed the holiday romantic comedy Happiest Season, which won a GLAAD Media Award in 2021 for Outstanding Film.

17. Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley is a Canadian filmmaker best known for her recent work on Women Talking. The film won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 95th Academy Awards. It was also nominated for Best Picture but ultimately lost to Everything Everywhere All at Once. In 2023, it was announced that Polley was in talks to direct Disney’s upcoming live-action Bambi.

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18. Chinonye Chukwu

Chinonye Chukwu is a Nigerian-American filmmaker known for her films Clemency and Till. For Clemency, Chukwu won Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, making her the first Black woman ever to do so. In 2023, Deadline reported that Chukwu would adapt the feature Wolf Hustle for Apple TV. The film will be based on a Black woman’s rise in the male-dominated Wall Street.

19. Maria Schrader

Maria Schrader is a German actor, writer, and director most notable for directing the feature film She Said. The film, starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, is a semi-fictionalized retelling of the New York Times investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations of disgraced director Harvey Weinstein. In 2022, the American Film Institute named She Said one of the top 10 films of the year.

20. Mary Harron

Mary Harron is a Canadian writer and director known for her work on films such as American Psycho, The Moth Diaries, and I Shot Andy Warhol. Throughout her career, Harron has been called a “feminist filmmaker,” a label she herself doesn’t necessarily agree with in totality (Hornaday, 2006). Her other works include The Notorious Bettie Page, Charlie Says, and Daliland.

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